Improvement in railway-track cleaners



lmp-rvement in *Railway Track Cleaners.

No. 124,321, Parmedmarch, 1872.

F i t751 ALEXANDER BLAKELY, OF FAIRFIELD, IOWA.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY-TRACK CLEANERS.

Specification forming part Vof Letters Patent No. 124,321, dated March 5, 1872.

Specification describing a new and useful Railroad-Track Gleaner, invented by ALEX- ANDER BLAKELY, of Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson and State of Iowa.

The invention will irst be fully described, and then clearly pointed out in the claims.

Figure l is aside elevation of a locomotive, and Fig. 2 a side elevation of a track-cleaner.

A represents the boiler, and B the sand-box, having pipe b. This pipe ext-ends down in front of the foremost driver C, and direct-ly over the track. Whenever it is desired to increase the traction of the driving-wheels, the track is sanded; but when the wheels have passed over, it is desirable to remove this sand.

In Fig. 2, D represents the rear driver of a locomotive. E is a shaft, having a conical brush, e, at the front end and frictionroll e at the other. This shaft is hung in bearings, so that the friction-roll e will rest against the side of wheel D and be rotated thereby, while the brush e will rotate across the rail and sweep the sand off to one side. The mechanism which I preferably employ t0 hold this shaft E in position consists of the pivoted bearing-piece F and spring f, vibratory lever G and sprin g g, elbow-lever H and rod J, which connects with a lever within reach of the engineer in the cab, all arranged upon the side of the locomotive.

Vhen the rod J, by means of its lever, is pulled back and held by a suitable detent, the elbow-lever H forces down the lever Gr, which raises the bearing-piece F and removes the friction-roller from the wheel. The spring f now draws up the brush-end/of the shaft E from the rail. Onthe other hand, when the track has been sanded in front of the drivers, the rod J and its operating-lever being released, the springf throws down the shaft E, so that the friction-roll c is brought into contact with wheel D. The latter carries upward the rubber roller by friction, the resista-nce of spring gis overcome, and the brush e is brought down upon the track. The roller e rotates the shaft E and brush c until the former is removed from wheel. By this device, as soon as the sand has answered its purpose, it is easily swept from the track, while the device itself is readily suspended and out of the way when not in use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The shaft E, provided with a brush, e, at one end and a friction-roll, e, at the other, arranged on each side of the locomotive and in rear of hindmost drive-wheel, as described, so that t-he said shaft will be rotated by the drivewheel, in the manner set forth.

2. The combination, with the said shaft E, having brush e and roll c', of the pivoted bearin g-piece F, sprin g f, and lever G, as described, to enable the brush to be raised or lowered, and held to or away from the track, as set forth.

' 3. The subjectmatter of second claim, in combination with the elbow-lever H, and connecting-rod J, all arranged as and for the purpose described.

ALEXANDER BLAKELY.`

Vitnesses:

Trios. D. D. OURAND, Unas. A. Pmr'rrr.

FFICE. 

